Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a collaboration between two Japanese powerhouses; Level-5, developer of Dragon Quest VIII and Professor Layton, and Studio Ghibli, the famous animation studio behind Academy Award-winning movie Spirited Away and much more.

It's the latter's contribution to the project that's the biggest draw to Ni No Kuni, with beautiful cutscenes and animations drawn by the studio. While it's not quite a living, breathing Ghibli flick - the in-game environments are actually polygonal - it's styled to the point where this is the closest thing we're likely to ever get to it.

But underneath its lavish production values is a simple and traditional role-playing game, filled with the usual assortment of towns populated with quirky folk, a world map to roam and monster encounters in a vast array of dungeons.

True to the genre, the opening section sets off at a gentle start, with a plodding pace filled with cutscenes and character introductions.

Our hero, Oliver, sneaks out of his suburban neighbourhood at night and gets into a spot of mischief. Soon after, tragedy strikes and the boy loses someone dear.

Little does he know that he's prophesised to save a fantasy world connected to his own. With the chance of reviving his loved one, Oliver is joined by an endearing, Welsh-voiced creature named Mr Drippy, and sets off on a journey filled with creatures and magic, and a witch out to stop him reaching his full potential.

It's not until 5 minutes into the game that you're grasping the game's battle system. Random encounters are of a bygone age for role-playing games and Ni No Kuni is no different, with monsters freely roaming the environment, allowing for avoidance and surprise encounters on both sides.

Fighting itself is familiar but more unique than its contemporaries, though. A blend of Grandia and Kingdom Hearts, you can freely run around an enclosed environment to avoid attacks and mop up orbs to replenish health or mana.

Stopping still brings up a menu wheel of commands, and once you've selected an option - such as attacking, for example - then your desired action takes place automatically. You can stop partway though, if you need to cut the animation short and quickly change tactics.

Party members are made up of Familiars, Pokemon-esque creatures that can be fed treats to improve their abilities. Also controlled directly in battle, they share Oliver's health and mana, and have a stamina gauge that constantly depletes during use, meaning they need to be swapped out on a regular basis.

On their own, all these components are simple enough, but combined allow for some detailed strategy. This is evident during the first boss encounter against the Guardian of the Woods, a tall, lumbering boss that Familiars can run rings around, easily avoiding its wide, powerful swings to snap away with melee attacks.

Oliver can then be used while the creature's stamina recharges. Being less mobile, the most ideal tactic is to throw fireballs from a distance, occasionally running up close to pick up health, and ideally, a special golden orb that completely fills his health and unleashes a special attack.

These options will undoubtedly be stretched and tested further when battles are populated with more dangerous and numerous monster encounters.

While its strong presentation values are the biggest attraction, there is a slight caveat of note; while key cutscenes are drawn in same way as Ghibli motion pictures, the game itself sees cel-shaded characters dropped into polygonal environments. While it's styled as close as possible - and still looks gorgeous - it's an important distinction to make for those hoping to play a living, breathing Ghibli film.

Ni No Kuni is a lavish, jaw-dropping outing that coats a simple, traditional role-playing game. It's a cel-shaded adventure that's distinctly more Dragon Quest than Wind Waker, but hopefully its gradual pace, simplicity and stunning visuals can draw those in otherwise adverse to the genre.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is out on January 22, 2013 in North America and January 25, 2013 in Europe.